The settings: Venice and Belmont

Venice. Reproduced in Social
England, ed. H.D.Traill. University of Victoria Library.

Shakespeare makes use of two distinct settings for The
Merchant of Venice. Venice, as in Shakespeare's time, is
the city of commerce where wealth flows in and out with each
visiting ship. Venice is also a cosmopolitan city at the
frontier of Christendom, beyond which lies Asia, Africa, and
the Ottoman Empire. Society in Venice is a predominantly male
world, where the single female, Jessica, is locked up in her
house, and can only escape in disguise as a male.

Belmont, on the other hand, is the home of Portia and her
mysterious caskets. It is a place of romance and festivity to
which the victorious Christians retire at the end of the
play. Like the forests in As You Like It and A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Belmont is an idealized "green
world" that is removed from the ruthlessness of the real
world. Unlike Venice, it is controlled by women (though
Portia's dead father lingers).